Hazleton Area students not expected to walk out Wednesday

By Michael P. Buffer
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Published: March 13, 2018

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Area school administrators have been busy deciding how to address Wednesday’s nationwide walkout to advocate stricter gun control laws and honor the 17 people killed Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Do they allow students to walk out, forbid participation or find an alternative activity to support the cause?

In the Hazleton Area School District, students will stay in school rather than walk out while they remember the victims in Parkland.

“We met with the students last week to provide a safe alternative to a walkout,” Superintendent Brian Uplinger said in a text message on Monday.

Students at Hazleton Area High School, the Hazleton Area Career Center and the Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences have been informed, he said.

“The safety of our students is paramount,” Uplinger said. “A walkout with a prescribed time and date doesn’t provide a safe environment.”

At Dallas High School, students are planning to walk out of school at 10 a.m. Wednesday, senior Andrew Francis said.

“It is a nonpartisan protest and a national call for change, as schools all around the country are participating in the same walkout,” Francis said in an email. “... word has been spreading and I am hoping for a majority of students to join together and walk out.”

Dallas educators plan to work cooperatively and supervise students who “want to demonstrate their support of the cause,” while also continuing to supervise students who want to remain in classrooms, school district Superintendent Thomas Duffy said.

The administrative response will depend on how many students participate, but “a location in or near the building” may be

proposed for the demonstration, Duffy said. The administration also wants “a respectful dialogue” with students “about the duration,” Duffy added.

National organizers say more than 2,500 walkouts are planned at schools at 10 a.m. local time, and it will last 17 minutes to honor the lives of those killed at Stoneman Douglas by a former student armed with an AR-15-style rifle.

Hanover Area Jr./Sr. High School is planning an assembly at 10 a.m. for all students in the gym and plans to send photos of the assembly to Stoneman Douglas students to show their support of the cause, Principal Daniel Malloy said.

“It’ll be longer than 17 minutes,” Malloy said, adding he met with about 20 student leaders in the last week to discuss the national walkout event.

The Wyoming Area Secondary Center is planning “a silent demonstration” Wednesday morning, Superintendent Janet Serino said. Students, administrators, faculty and staff “will gather around the perimeter of the school ... and join hands indicating solidarity, non-violence and compassion, as well as memorializing lost lives,” Serino said.

“Our students can send a booming message with their quiet reflection,” she added.

If weather is extremely inclement Wednesday, the demonstration will take place throughout the hallways of the school, Serino said.

Pittson Area educators “are encouraging students to demonstrate their support for this cause by participating in a variety of positive activities,” which includes an initiative called “#Walk Up, Not Out,” Superintendent Kevin Booth said.

It will encourage students to walk up to three adults and 14 students with whom they have not previously interacted and “have some sort of positive interaction” with them, Booth explained.

“Allowing students to walk out of school unsupervised would not be in the best interest of the students from a safety perspective,” Booth added.

Staff writer Kent Jackson contributed to this story.

Contact the writer:

mbuffer@citizensvoice.com; 570-821-2073, @cvmikebuffer

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